March 4 Lecture Focuses on Mary Mendenhall Hobbs
Mary Mendenhall Hobbs
Earlham College faculty member Thomas Hamm will lecture on The Struggles of Mary Mendenhall Hobbs at 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 4, at New Garden Friends Meeting.
This 2013 Judith Weller Harvey Quaker Scholar Lecture, free and open to the public, is sponsored by the Friends Center at Guilford College. Tom also will take part in Tea & Talk in the Hut at 4 p.m. Monday.
One of the most influential women of her time, Mary was an active member of New Garden Meeting, the daughter of the Superintendent of New Garden Boarding School during the Civil War, and the wife of the first president of Guilford College.
A leading proponent of social reform and progressive education, she worked actively for women’s education and suffrage, peace, temperance, and the elimination of the death penalty. She actively promoted the teaching of modern science (including evolution) and the use of the “new scholarship” in approaching the Bible. In Thomas’ words, she helped keep Guilford College an “island of moderation, surrounded by a sea of fundamentalism.”
Tom, professor of history and director of special collections at Earlham, is the author of numerous books and journal articles, including The Quakers in America; God’s Government Begun; Earlham College: A History; and Quaker Writings: An Anthology, 1650-1920. A biography of Mary is among his planned book projects.
A native of Indiana, he received his B.A from Butler University and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Indiana University. He is a member of New Castle Friends Meeting.
For more information, contact Max Carter at 316-2445 or mcarter@guilford.edu.
